Machine Learning Could Be The Way Forward For Iot

Unlike computers and mobile devices, IoT devices do not have particularly sophisticated encryption and security protocols in place to keep them safe from the many threats that they might encounter on the Internet. These devices do not tend to have much in the way of storage space and processing power, which limits their security options, but the fact that they are connected to the internet still makes them highly vulnerable.

This helps explain why there have been so many recent IoT attacks making headlines. A hacker can find thousands of vulnerable devices in a matter of minutes, and while the results of such an attack can be devastating on their own, they could also serve as gateways to even more widespread attacks. It turns out these “smart” devices are really not that intelligent after all.
Machines Can Learn To Spot Abnormal Activity

One approach that can help overcome this limitation is machine learning. This can be used to analyze data in order to determine safe behavior and general patterns of use so that unusual activity can be detected before it turns into something more sinister.

Cybersecurity firm Bitdefender is already benefitting from this approach. The firm uses cloud-based intelligence together with pattern recognition and local network analysis in order to keep tabs on the Internet traffic of home networks. It then blocks any connections that are suspicious. Cloud services have given them the ability to bring consumers the kind of intelligence and protection that is normally only available to businesses.

While this is indeed a very good solution with a lot of potential, there is also the possibility of false alarms. One way to reduce this is to set up a learning system that incorporates human feedback to help develop predictive models that are similar to human judgments, only on a bigger scale and in real time.

Machine learning still has some way to go before it can be seen as a simple fix to the complicated problems posed by IoT. It’s also important to note that machine learning alone will not be able to solve everything, so other approaches to security will continue to be important.